Electric connector



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" mount importance.

Patented Mar. 28; 1939 panier woo, sa Application October 20, 1934,Serial No. 749,I83 s claims. wi. ras-35s) This invention relates ingeneral to electric connectors. and more particularly to electricsockets.

An electric socket ordinarily comprises a threaded brass shell which iselectrically connected to one wire of an electric circuit, and ailexible spring brass contacting member thereinelectrically connected tothe other wire of the electric circuit. The spring brass contactor iscontained centrally within the upper portion of the brass shell, andheld therein by being mounted in a porcelain insulating plug, set in theupper open endL of the brass shell. In constructing such an electricsocket, two things are of para- The spring contact must be electricallyinsulated from the shell which forms the other contact of an electriccircuit to the lamp, and secondly, in order to provide a resilientcontact for the light globe, this spring contact must permit a play ofat least VM, so

. that the springiness thereof will follow the contact point on the lampglobe as the globe tends to move out of `contact by reason of vibrationor other causes, and also to resiliently urge the lamp globe downwardlyso that it will be tightly held within the threads of a brass shellwhich. forms the other contact of the electric circuit to the lamp. Y

In the manufacture of lamp sockets generally, the operation of securingthe central spring contact to the porcelain plug member is attained witha very high amount of breakage, and therefore results in undue expense.

It is an object of this invention to provide an electric connector inwhich one of the contacts is imbedded in an insulating resilientmaterial.

It is another object of this invention to provide a more economicalelectric lamp socket which is made of water-proof material.

It is another object of this invention to provide an electric lampsocket which has a unitary water-proof casing, said electric lamp sockethaving the contacts thereof insulatingly molded therein.

Numerous other objects and advantages will be apparent throughout theprogress of the following specification.

Certain features of the ring closure means illustrated in Fig. 4 are notclaimed herein as that comprises subject matter of applicants copendingapplication Serial No. 748,251, iled October 13, 1934, which has maturedinto Patent No. 2,119,452-, issued May 31, 1938 in which the subjectmatter is claimed.

Several preferred embodiments of this invention are shown in theaccompanying drawing, in

.which- Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of thisinvention.

Fig. Z is a cross-sectional view of another preferred embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the embodiment shown Flgpll, llooking in thedirection of the arrows Fig. 4 is another preferred embodiment of thisinvention.

In Fig. 1 is shown a selected embodiment of the invention whichcomprises a ilexible casing 23 made of molded rubber. On the top of thiscasing. and unitary therewith are extensions E and 1 respectively, whichare molded around the electric conducting wires 9 and li respectively,making a water-tight joint therewith. The conductor 9 is electricallyconnected to a threaded brass shell 2i by the bared end of the conductorI3, which is soldered or otherwise electrically connected to the shell2i at M. The other conductor -ii is connected 'to the other contactorpoint I9 of the socket. by a bared end of the conductor wire l5, whichis inserted into a solderlled cavity I1 in the contactor point i9. Thecontactor point i9 is molded in the upper central portion of the socketcasing. This contactor point has a flange i6 which serves to imbedthecontactor point I9 more securely .within the molded rubber. Thecontactor point i9 is furthermore provided with a shoulder 30 and acontact surface 3i. The shoulder 30 bears against the outer surface ofthe top part of the casing, and further aids in securing the contactorpoint within the rubber molded thereabout. The cas- Y ing 23 is somolded that the top of its interior portion 26 has a downwardly curvedcross section. Within the rubber casing is operatively secured athreaded brass shell. The brass shell extends downwardly for asubstantial distance from the top of the inside of the rubber casing toa point 24. The rubber casing continues downwardly from the end of thebrassl shell and is flanged inwardly along an oblique surface 21 to anopening 29, said opening 29 being smaller in diameter than the diameterof the brass shell '2 I This is shown vwith greater particularity inFig.`

3, the circle 29 being the bottom opening of the rubber casing. thecircle 2i being an indication of the brass shell. When a lamp globe isscrewed upwardly into the socket, the opening 29 being somewhat smallerthan the shell, and naturally somewhat smaller than the screw capportion o! the lamp globe, the rubber about the casing makes a tightconnection with the lamp globe as it enters. As the lamp globe isscrewed up into the brass shell, it nnally comes in contact with thesurface Il of the contacter point i9. As the lamp globe is furtherpropelled into the brass shell, the contactar point being -molded withinresilient rubber, tends to give upwardly and permit the lamp to enterfurther into the brass shell, the surface of the rubber casing at thetop of the inside, assuming a double bowed cross section such as shownat in Fig. 2, the rubber about the contactor point being compressedsomewhat. When the lamp has finally been screwed up into the socket, theresiliency of the rubber casing about the contacter point tends to forcethe contactor point downwardly against the top of the lamp globe, whichaction serves to give a wiping contact between the contactor point andthe central contact of the lamp, and furthermore to resiliently urge thelamp downward .against the threads of the brass shell, serving therebyto more securely hold the lamp within the socket. Finally, as the lamptends to move down away from the contactor point i9 by reason ofvibration and other similar factors, the resiliency of the rubber inwhich the contacter point is mounted, will urge the contactor point i9downwardly so as to follow the central contact point on the lamp andmaintain contact therewith, thus preserving the electric circuitunbroken. Inasmuch as rubber is a Very good insulating material, as wellas a very good resilient medium, it serves to insulatingly separate thecontactor point i9 from the brass shell 2|.

This avoids all diiiiculties previously encountered in manufacturingwater-proof lamp sockets. since it is possible to strip or clean off asmall portion of two insulated electric wires, insert ,one of thecleaned off portionsinto the contactar point cavity i1, and secure itthereto by an electric contact maintaining medium such as solder, securethe other electric conductor or wire to a brass shell in similarfashion. place the wires with their respective contact point and shellwithin a mold, and pour rubber into the mold. AfterA al lowingdzhe moldto cool and set, the finished socket may be taken therefrom and therough edges left by the mold trimmed, if desirable. This eliminatesentirely the operation of securing spring contacts for a porcelain plugfor insertion in a brass shell, and results in a much more efcent andeconomical socket, which, at the same time, is thoroughly, waterresistant and moisture proof.

Other embodiments of this invention may be made such as. for instance,that shown in Fig. 2, where the contacter point instead of bearing uponthe rubber of .the casing by its shoulder as was described in connectionwith Fig. 1, is iltted with an auxiliary shoulder .32 for the purpose ofsecuring greater bearing surface on the rubber. The socket may befurther modied by extending the brass shell at 33 as shown in Fig. 4,and fashioning therein as an integral part thereof an annular metal ringof substantially semicircular cross section, into which ring may beinserted a rubber gasket or washer l1. In this last embodiment of theinvention, the water resistant and moisture proof characteristics of thesocket are dependent, at least at the point of contact with the lamp,upon the rubber washer 31 as shown in Fig. 4 rather than the rubber lip28 as shown in Fig. 2.

Changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of theforegoing, without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventionas set forth in the appended claims.

Whatisclaimedasnewanddesiredtobesecured by Letters Patent is:

1. A moisture-proof electric connector comprising a dielectric flexibleresilient casing. a screw threaded shell imbedded therein, a centralcontact means imbedded therein, said central contact means beingflexibly and insulatingly held from the shell by the material ofthecasing, said casing furthermore extending longitudinally outward fromthe open end of the screw threaded casing to form an extension portion,said extension portion oi.' the casing having formed on the insidethereof an annular groove, an annular metal shell disposed within saidgroove, said shell having a substantially semicircular cross section,and a resilient rubber ring or washer disposed within said metal ring.,

2. A moisture-proof electric connector comprising a dielectric resilientcasing, a screw threaded shell imbedded therein, a central contact meansimbedded therein, said central contact means being flexibly andinsulatingly held from the shell by the material of the casing, saidshell having formed integral therewith an extension portion disposeddownwardly from the end of the screw threads thereof, said extensionportion having formed therein an annular groove, said groove having asubstantially semicircular cross section, and a washer or ring disposedwithin said groove, said washer or ring extending inwardly of thediameter of the screw threaded shell so as to form a resilient ring atthe opening of the shell, said ring being of smaller diameter than theshell, whereby a water-tight connection is made when a lamp globe isinserted into the connector.

3. An electric connector comprising a molded resilient soft rubbercasing, a threaded openended metal shell molded therein, lead-in wiresmolded in said casing, said casing being formed at the top with adownwardly extending arcuate surplus of the resilient rubber casingmaterial, said surplus extending downwardly into the open top of thethreaded metal shell, and a hanged vmetal contact member partiallyembedded in the rubber casing at the center of the downwardly extendingsurplus, said lead-in wires being respectively eonnectedto the flangedcontact mem- `ber and the threaded shell, the resilience of the l moldedrubber casing being such as to permit vmovement of the anged contactmember upwardly and downwardly with respect to the threaded metal shella distance approximately equal to the pitch of the threads in saidthreaded metal shell.

4. An electric connector comprising a molded, resilient, soft rubbercasing, a threaded open; ended metal shell molded therein, lead-in wiresembedded in said casing, said casing being formed at the top with adownwardly extending surplus of the resilient rubber casing material,said surplus `extending downwardly into the open top of the threadedmetal shell. and a anged metal contact member partially embedded in therubber casing at the center of the downwardly extending surplus, saidlead-in wires being respectively connected to the flanged contact memberand the threaded shell, the resilience of the molded rubber casing beingsuch as to permit movement of the ilanged contact member upwardly anddownwardly with respect to the threaded metal shell a distanceapproximately equal to the pitch of the threads in said threaded metalshell.

5. An electric connector comprising a molded, resilient, soft rubbercasing having an opening to receive a lamp globe, a contact member insaid opening and secured to said casing to engage the base of the lampglobe, lead-in wires embedded in said casing, said casing being formedat its top with a boss of the resilient, soft rubber Amaterial andextending downwardly into said opening centrally thereof, a secondcontact member secured to said boss substantially at the center of saidopening, said lead-in wires being connected to said contact members, theresilience of the boss maintaining contact between the second contactmember and the `central contact projection extending from the base ofthe lamp globe.

6. A combination of an electric light socket formed ci a -unitary pieceof resilient, soft, rubber-like material to receive the shank of anelectric light globe and having an integral boss extending inwardlycentrally of the socket, said" boss y being resilient enough to supporta contact member carried by said boss and to maintain contact betweensaid member and the central contact of the lamp globe inserted in saidsocket, and a second contact member secured within said socket tocontact the shank of said globe and to hold the shank of said globe inassembled relationship within saidsocket. l

